Tomato Pappu: Andhra Style Dal Recipe

The Tomato Pappu or dal as it is called in the North, is the most basic requirement of vegetarian Andhra cuisine. This dal recipe forms the soul of a meal and is cherished deeply as a symbol of vegetarian Andhra recipes. It is in some sense a normal tomato dal. It is the special South Indian style of cooking that makes it a special dal recipe.

Tomato pappu is a relatively simple dal recipe. It will take about 20 minutes to make this Andhra recipe ready to eat. You can easily prepare withing minutes. This dal recipe can be cooked in two ways. You can either pressure cook the dal and then season it. You can also make Tomato pappu by seasoning the raw dal in the pressure cooker and then cooking it. The seconf method of making tomato pappu will take teh sting out of dry red chillies but it will also be quicker.

Ingredients

Toor dal- 1 cup

Onion- 1 (chopped)

Ginger- 1 inch (chopped)

Green chillies- 3 (slit)

Tomatoes- 2 (chopped)

Turmeric powder- ½tsp

Oil- 2tbsp

Salt as per taste

Coriander leaves for garnishing

For Seasoning

Dry red chillies- 2

Mustard- 1tsp

Cumin seeds- 1tsp

Garlic- 4 cloves (minced)

Asfoetida or hing- 1pinch

Ghee- 1tbsp

Procedure

1. Pressure cook the dal for a duration of 3 whistles on medium flame.